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Dec 20, 2003 From a purely political standpoint, things are looking good for President George W. Bush. The economy is in full recovery mode (and yes, that includes jobs now) and Saddam Hussein is in a windowless room somewhere, probably thinking long and hard about all the people who want a piece of him. The recent good news on both fronts has given Dubya a bump in his approval rating, from 52% to 58%. This, of course, doesn’t bode well for the Democratic presidential hopefuls, who had two issues of any real traction: the economy and a “mismanagement” of the war on terror. Within about a week, the man so often derided by the Left as an intellectual lightweight has snatched both of those issues right out of their mouths, nearly mid-sentence. Not that the Dems have an inspiring cast from which to choose anyway. Kerry is too wooden, Edwards is too green, Dean is too unapologetically liberal, Gephardt is too establishment, Al Sharpton is too, well…Al Sharpton, etc, etc. (Do all “civil rights leaders” have to attend the Dr. Seuss School of Oratory?) And then there is Dennis Kucinich, that curious looking little fellow from Ohio. Most polls show that he stands a snowball’s chance in hell of wining anything but a door prize for “Pluckiest Campaign,” but he’s in the mix nonetheless. His guaranteed failure is a good thing, too. If anyone has shown himself to be eminently unfit for the highest office in the land, it’s Kucinich. This is the man who has vowed to “take on” the Pentagon if he gets elected. Maybe it’s just me, but someone who plans in advance to have a contentious relationship with the military is not exactly cut from the right cloth to be commander- in-chief. The Constitution calls for the president to defend the country - not redistribute wealth. This is also the man who thinks “profit” is a four-letter word. Indeed, if Kucinich had his way, he would remove profit from the entire health care industry. The following is from his campaign website: ”The pharmaceutical industry is the most profitable in America, even more profitable than the banking industry. America is a captive market. Americans pay 64% more than Canadians pay for the same pharmaceuticals. Canadians have a system to control prices.” Now, I am not an economist (nor have I played one on TV), but the above statement amounts a few lines of sheer bunk. First off, what does the profit comparison to the banking industry mean? Why not use the film industry? Or toys? It’s a worthless comparison, akin to saying, “latex paint dries fast, even faster than onion dip.” Secondly, the longing glances north of the border to find a brave, new model for our health care system must stop. Seriously. Canada’s government may control prices, but they do not control costs. The fact is that the overwhelming majority of drugs never make it to market. In other words, if $75 for a month’s worth of Prozac seems pricey, it’s because, statistically speaking, Eli Lilly has to pay for the nine prototypes that failed. Indeed, the fickle nature of pharmaceutical R&D should render it off-limits to government tinkering. (No offense to our friends up north, but when was the last time you heard of a Canadian company coming out with a “breakthrough” drug?) Price controls, ever single time they are implemented, result in a drop in supply of the commodity in question. The little-known dark side to Canada’s “model” health system is that they have huge waiting lists, some of up to eight months, forcing thousands to come south of the border to seeking treatment in the U.S. (Remember our gas lines of the 1970’s? Price controls. One of Ronald Reagan’s first acts was to lift the controls. Voila! Supply back to normal.) And we can’t overlook the fact that those nasty “profits,” in addition to fueling future R&D, allow American pharmaceutical companies to hire people, build plants, and pay dividends to shareholders. If Mr. Kucinich can’t see the value in all this, he should reconsider his membership in the “Keynesian Book-of-the-Month Club.” Even though Mr. Kucinich has no realistic chance of getting the nomination, far too many of his compatriots share an affinity for this dangerous philosophy on health care. Capping prices may be the feel-good, politically expedient thing to do, but when the pipeline of new, lifesaving drugs starts to dry up, we’ll come to realize just how great the costs really are. ------------ About Matthew Bastian: Recovering socialst, part-time drummer, long-suffering Brewers fan, and all-around beach hound, Mr. Bastian lives in central New Jersey. Email Matthew Bastian: mbastian19@hotmail.com Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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